Fated Love
by x Kihana x
Summary: As a child, Zidane found himself lost on a foreign continent. He soon met up with a girl named Sarah. But the obliteration of Madain Sari occurred and the two were separated. Would destiny let them meet again?


Disclaimer: I own all of the characters and settings in this story. ^.~ Just kidding, they all belong to the geniuses of Squaresoft. ^^

Fated Love

        Gaia had four outsized and magnificent continents, the Outer Continent being one of them. Not too many villages resided on it compared to those of the Mist Continent. One minuscule village did, however, and it was home of the summoners. Its name was Madain Sari. That village being the most momentous one on the continent, some could say the Outer Continent was the land of the summoners.

An eight-year-old boy whose name was Zidane Tribal stood on the edge of that very continent. He was shocked at how lovely this foreign island was to him, though he wished he knew where he was. The child merely was playing with a petite canoe when he inadvertently drifted out to sea, lastly ending up there. 

Being lost at such a young age perceptibly terrified the boy; his eyes were watering and he was about to cry at any minute. He wanted to go home, repentant for using the canoe in the first place. He loved adventures, but this was too much.

At that point a girl who would alter Zidane's life forever appeared. This child was one of the summoners of this continent.

Her silken, shoulder-length sienna tresses shimmered. Valiant innocent eyes speckled with pools of a chocolate hue, peeking behind thin sable lashes. Tiny, glistened pink lips smiled unobtrusively. She was clad in a ruffled white chemise, sleeves flared and a bright orange ribbon on the collar. A small orange skirt adorned her waist, scarlet-shaded shoes on her delicate feet. A gold pendant was around her neck. 

The amiable, mystifying and endearing child winked. "Hi there."

        "Hi," Zidane replied with a sniffle. He looked at the girl who was exceedingly attractive for being so young. Her voice was sweet and reverential-sounding. 

        "So, what'cha doing out here?" the girl inquired optimistically. "I've never seen you before; are you lost?" She curtsied.

        "Yeah, I was playing with a canoe and I ended up here." He smiled diffidently. "Where exactly am I?"

"You're on the shores of the Outer Continent." She pointed to the land behind her. "And that's Madain Sari, my village." 

"Madain Sari?" he repeated. "I've never heard of such a place."

"Of course not, silly…you're not from here, clearly," she giggled, pointing to his tail. "It's cute."

Zidane looked at his tail and then back at Sarah, namely her summoner horn. "Well you're not exactly normal, either…"

"There's no such thing as normal; that's what Mom told me!" she retorted. She self-consciously placed her hands upon her summoner horn and stuck out her tongue.

"Are you a devil since you have a horn?" Zidane lightheartedly asked, vigorously trying to hold in laughter.

"I'm not a devil, honest!" she yelled. "That horn is just there to hold up my angel halo." Sarah smiled innocently. 

"Very funny!" he commented. "No, really…what is it for?"

"I'm a summoner girl…I use it to summon beasts called eidolons." She winked and did a pose, quite complacent with herself, culture and ability. 

"Could you show me one?" Zidane asked with anticipation.

"If you play some games with me I will," she replied with a beam. "Like how about the game 'tag'? Ever hear of it?"

"Yes!" he replied, walking closer to her. "You're it!"

"Not for long!" Sarah screamed, endeavoring to catch up to the already distant Zidane. It did not take her that long; she had at last caught up to him and pushed him down as they laughed simultaneously. "And now you're it."

"Sarah…" the young child whispered, holding his arm. "I really hurt my arm from that fall. You could really push, you know that?"

"I apologize…let me heal it," she conceded as she took his arm. With that said, the young summoner girl closed her eyes as innumerable pallid sparkles hovered above her and Zidane. He looked up, his blue eyes staring in absolute veneration at Sarah's power. She crossed her arms and released them, chanting the word cure.

It took a few seconds for the pain to recede, but once it did, Zidane couldn't stop staring at his unmarred arm. The wound that was once there was utterly alleviated. He glimpsed up at Sarah, her brown eyes gleaming with bliss. He then found himself not being able to stop staring into her eyes. They were to a certain extent immersing, to say the least.

"Zidane, are you alive?" Sarah enquired, waving her little hand in front of Zidane's face. She smiled and moved forward, kissing him hastily on his nose and sitting back, giggling. 

"Oh, gross!" he yelled, wiping his face off with a gloved-hand. "What did you do that for?" He grimaced petulantly.

"Ah, you're no fun!" she retorted, crossing her arms and walking away. Zidane stood up promptly and followed her to the hill in the distance. The sun shone bright above the two children, but its splendor leisurely faded, for it was setting. 

"Sarah, could I ask you something?" Zidane queried, trying not to gaze directly at the sun due to its severe vividness so his eyes would not water.

"Sure!" she answered charismatically.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" the young boy asked. "I want to travel the world! But for now, I'm just a petty thief."

"Aw, poor Zidane," she replied with a wink. "I want to be a princess. I want to rule a large kingdom with a beautiful castle and fall in love with a prince. The name Sarah does mean princess, you know. That's why Mom named me that. I'm a little princess." She smiled, becoming absorbed in her own thoughts.

"You have to be born from a queen and king to be a princess…" Zidane said, placing his hands in front of his face so Sarah would not strike him for marring her aspirant dreams. Albeit he did that, though, she still managed to mischievously hit him.

"Still, it's nice to dream so shut up." She picked a lily flower and placed it in her hair, picking up another one as well and throwing it at Zidane.

"You want to fall in love, too?" he asked. "Um…do you want to fall in love with a prince, or just any guy?"

"Just any guy." She bit her lip. "I'd favor if he was appealing, handsome, funny, and had a big dagger to protect me, though!" 

"Could I be the one you fall in love with, Sarah?" Zidane reluctantly asked, foreseeing the summoner girl to hit him again for inquiring such a question.

"Sure!" she responded contentedly. "After that, though, you got to ask me to marry you." She blushed.

"Okay," Zidane replied as he pulled out a golden necklace from his pocket. He held it up to the sun's emission, it being very iridescent. 

"That's so pretty." Sarah perused its elaborate structure. 

"Sarah, this is a friendship necklace," he elucidated. "So incase we ever get separated or something, I will find you, because you will be wearing the necklace." He slipped it around her neck as she looked at it.

"Thank-you!" she exclaimed animatedly. 

"Or if a giant Chocobo runs you over and I have to identify the body, I'll know it's you since you'll be wearing the necklace!" Zidane joked, laughing frenziedly.

"What?" Sarah asked. "How could you say that!"

"I'm just kidding," Zidane conceded through laughter. "I'll wear the other half so you can find me if we were ever separated—I'll be wearing the other half."

"Exactly!" Sarah smiled and they both laughed. 

        It was as if Zidane was gifted in the expertise to envisage the upcoming; because that night, the two would alas become separated. The parting would not be a buoyant one said with exultant good-byes, though. It would be a vindictive, distressing one. 

Two children slept on a large hill under the stars that night. One of the children was sleeping on the other's shoulder placidly. Perceptibly Sarah's parents would not let her sleep outside alone, but seeing how tranquil and adorable the two were, they let them be, but periodically checked on the two to make sure no animals or beasts were in close proximity to them.

        And then the serenity was shattered. The once shining moon surrounded by divine stars was replaced. Great storm clouds formed, hovering above heatedly. They twirled around, wholly blocking the moon and stars. In reality, they were becoming so thick and large that the entire once raven sky above Madain Sari was filled with clouds of an imminent squall. 

        Sarah's mother was the first to acknowledge these immense clouds whilst going outside to check on her daughter and Zidane to make sure they were sleeping securely. When she saw the clouds, she feared the worse. An appalling quandary would ensue dreadfully soon and it was not safe to be there to any further extent. 

        The once serene and quiet community was now bustling with frenetic villagers all trying to get to safety. Sadly, the only safe place to flee to would be away from the Outer Continent or somewhere far from Madain Sari. Men ran to diminutive canoes and boats, packing as many provisions as possible for their women and children. Female summoners of the village held their children closely, condoling them as much as they could so they would cease their crying, but to no avail…

        Downpours of rainfall fell profoundly on the town along with brutal, harsh winds and sleet. The winds caused great impairment and consequently debris flew from houses and cottages; many people were hurt and killed instantaneously. The largest dreary cloud of all hovered in the center of the village. Behind it was an outsized cerulean aircraft; an airship that every soul on that continent were intimidated by. Its name was the Invincible. 

The two children slept peacefully on the hill not disturbed at all whilst the wind shrieked through the night, lightning illuminating the obscurity and thunder becoming deafening. But this was only the commencement of what was to come.  

Cries soon began to arise all through the village; the petrified sounds rising above the clouds and presumably they could be heard throughout the Outer Continent, if not other continents of Gaia.

Sarah felt Zidane's arm stiffen, his hold on her hand tightening. She whined a trifle, but not in the ache his seize caused. She wanted to tell him to stop holding her hand so firmly but she was too scared to let go. 

        The two children held each other, disorientated, horrified, and unnerved as to what to do or where to go. Sarah whimpered vociferously, crying out for her mother and father. Zidane was crying too, but he was doing it gently so it would be subtle for Sarah to hear and see. He had to be valiant and shield her. He could not cry or she would be more apprehensive. 

        "Sarah, come here!" Sarah's father screamed, at last spotting her and Zidane on the hill. She was frozen, but not from the iciness of the piercing winds, though. She was absolutely frozen and scared to leave Zidane; fearful that the immense currents of air would impair her if she let go of him. She also had trepidation that the wind would separate her from the people she loved enduringly. 

        "We have to be strong, Sarah!" Zidane yelled through sniffles, pulling her with him to her dismay and heading for her father's location. 

        "Oh, my beautiful Sarah…everything will be fine!" Her father tried desperately to console her with his words, but he knew that nothing would ever be fine. He embraced his daughter and smiled reassuringly to Zidane.

        "Daddy, we cannot leave Zidane!" Sarah yelled, holding her friend's arm. 

        "Zidane?" her father questioned. The young boy nodded. "There's a canoe right there; take it and get off of this continent. I will come with you once I make sure Sarah and her mother are on their canoe safely."

        "Okay!" Zidane concurred, running to the canoe. "Thank you!"

Within her father's arms, Sarah made it down to her canoe. Her father put a leather cloak on Sarah to keep her from getting too saturated from rain. He placed Sarah in the diminutive boat and kissed his wife and daughter, hugging them farewell and eager that that would not be the last embrace that they would ever share.

"The boat will not survive; not against those waves!" Sarah's mother spoke, her voice sounding soft compared to the howling wind. "It will for sure capsize the second we sail out! We can't go out there!" 

"But at least you'd have a chance out there." He sighed. "If you stay here, you won't make it. I promise I will see you again."

 "All right," she said reluctantly with a nod, stepping vigilantly into the boat. Smiling receptively, she picked up her daughter. "This is the only way. Once we get out of here, we'll be safe."

The waves inclined the boat hastily, roughly knocking it over several times within a minute. Ferocious winds and water tore at the sail sternly. It was impracticable to see and hear. The only sounds were of people screaming—shrieking that sounded almost silent compared to the raucous winds and breaking of roofs. 

Subsequent to a few minutes the screaming lessened and then ceased utterly. The destined princess knew why. The frosty salt water hurt her eyes and made her quiver riotously. Sarah's mother tried the best she could to protect her child, but to no advantage.... 

In the remoteness, Sarah perceived a figure in a boat. She squinted and rubbed her eyes repetitively to try and make out whom the person was. And at last, the person—a child—called her name. It was Zidane. His undersized boat was doing the same as theirs, but he was alone and did not have a mother to protect him. Sarah's father had promised to get Zidane to protection and he promised he would see his wife and child again. But he did not keep one of those promises—he did not survive.

"Zidane!" Sarah reiterated over and over, even going as far as trying to jump out of the boat just to be by his side. Her mother screamed every time Sarah tried to leave the boat, knowing her child would not have a solitary second of survival in the ocean's waters.

        "Sarah! Sarah!" he cried back. She wanted to save Zidane so much but there was nothing she could do. Only God could decide his fate, so the summoner girl prayed wordlessly that his destiny would be to endure the sadistic squalls and hurricane.

And then his fate was decided. His boat; too impaired to sustain a balance, subsided. Sarah deemed that that was the last time she would ever see him again. She glanced at her amity pendant. It was all she had left of Zidane Tribal. 

All Sarah could do was hold onto her crying mother as rain blended with brine and lightning illuminated their horrified faces. Vicious quivering of the boat made the summoner girl nauseous. Sarah would sometimes gaze up in the direction of Madain Sari, but it was not there anymore. Myriad conflagrations, ash and collapsed debris had taken the place of a once magnificent, prosperous village of summoners. 

        The Invincible had taken just about everyone and everything precious to Sarah, the innocent summoner girl of Madain Sari. 

        Her mother continued to hold her, solacing her by singing the song she always sang to her. That song was a treasured song only her mother sang to Sarah. It had comforted her so greatly in the past and it did to some extent presently. That was the last time the cherished song was ever sung to Sarah; at some point in that haunting night her mother had died on the boat, Sarah found cataleptic.__

A princess woke up from a terrorizing, chronic nightmare and looked out her window. Her name was Garnet Til Alexandros, future successor to the throne of the kingdom acknowledged as Alexandria. She walked over to it and opened it up, permitting the cool zephyr and lovely aroma of the realm into her room, or to her, her prison. She glimpsed out into the distance of the hills beyond the vast kingdom she lived in. All this Alexandrian Princess longed to do was escape to see the world…

Garnet sighed and walked to her canopy bed, sitting on it and taking a small pendant out of her nightstand. She ran her fingers down the intricate gold and wished she could find the person who had the other piece of it. As much as she wanted to, she could not remember how she had received the necklace or who held the other half. She just knew that jewelry was dear to her for some reason—she had it for as long as she could remember.

The Alexandrian Princess put the necklace around her neck, it hanging along with the other valued silver pendant of hers. Garnet then walked over to her closet and took out a ruby and white-hued cloak and a yellow one-piece garment. In other words, an attire a commoner would wear. 

"Mother, uncle Cid will help make you better," she said to the vacant room. "And I'm running away to seek his aid. I also want to see the world in place of reading about it in books and seeing only a little portion of it from the window. I'll miss you, but it's for the best." Warm tears filled her eyes at her statement.

Dusk came and once again, Garnet found herself engrossed in the stars and moon's beauty, titivating the forever Misty sky and reflecting off the sea in the far, far distance. Copious people were in the kingdom of Alexandria presently for a popular play to be performed. It was Garnet's beloved play, but not even it could make her smile. Sighing at the call of her knight Adelbert Steiner's voice, she put her crown on and went to see the play.

It was not an enjoyable experience for her, the play being hackneyed. Accordingly, during the middle of the play, she snuck out of her seat and went back to her room. It was time for her to abscond all that was majestic at last. 

Running out of her room and now in the marble-floored hallway, Garnet looked up at the ceiling for a mere second while catching her breath from running so fast. But that caused the hood of her mage robe to fall off her head, revealing her hair and visage appearances for a certain person to see. 

As if inevitable, Zidane Tribal—the one she thought she would never see again—almost bumped into her in that very hallway. Garnet did not know about the plan her long lost friend was going to take part in. Regent Cid, Garnet's uncle, planned for Zidane and his friends to kidnap her so she could be held captive until Queen Brahne got herself under control.

Zidane squinted and then took a few steps back, watching in complete revere as she promptly pulled the hood over her head again. But knowing he had already seen her face, she sighed and pulled it off again.

"S-Sarah?" he called softly, placing a hand over his mouth in absolute shock. "Is that you?"  

"What?" Garnet inquired, tilting her head. "My name isn't what you called me. I'm Princess Garnet Til Alexandros and I'm running away. Don't try and stop me."

"I-I don't care about that now," Zidane replied, though he should have since she just revealed to him her name. Hence this was the girl he was supposed to kidnap. "No, you're not Princess Garnet. You're Sarah!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked again, this time fury in her tone. "You've got the wrong girl."

        "It's Zidane, don't you remember me…?" Innumerable thoughts flew through his mind now that he found the one he clandestinely loved. "We were childhood friends for awhile until…until Madain Sari was destroyed!" Just remembering that day made his heart ache. 

"Madain Sari…?" she repeated, that village name sounding proverbial, but not enough for her to remember it. "I am sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. Please let me through."

Zidane saw two pendants around the beautiful, mystifying girl's neck. Seeing him stare at them, she tucked them under her cloak self-consciously. He was a stranger and a thief, so the thought of him seizing them from her did cross her mind. 

            "Please, may I see that gold necklace of yours?" he asked optimistically, walking closer. "The friendship one."

            "Um, well…" Garnet stammered, uneasy and not sure if she should run or trust him not to take it.

            "I won't do anything, promise." He smiled artlessly and shyly. Before she could tell him it was all right, he walked in back of her and pushed her hair away delicately so he could unlatch the jewelry. His hands gently brushed against her neck and that caused her to shiver a bit. There was something about this young man…

            Zidane looked at the necklace and smiled blissfully with anticipation in his heart. He then took a twin necklace out of his pocket that was just about indistinguishable to the one he took from Garnet. He matched his necklace piece with her necklace piece and at last the pieces were reunited. Meaning, the two who held them were brought together at last as well. The two pieces as one formed a heart. It was a heart longing to be formed for eight years.

        "You have the other half of my necklace…?" Garnet stared in complete awe. This was all too surreal.

        "Sarah." He looked up at her, his face full of concern and him pleading inwardly for her to remember him. 

        Staring at the perplexing accessory Zidane held caused Garnet to drop to her knees as memories that were once vanished came back to her. Recollections such as her mother and father that loved her unconditionally filled her mind. A reminiscence of a town of summoners living peacefully is what she also saw in her mind. Memories of a once halcyon childhood came to her as well.

        And then the atrocious, disturbing images materialized in her mind. Flashbacks beleaguered her mind, such as the magnificent town of summoners, Madain Sari, burning to the ground and her blithe life disappearing before her very eyes. And lastly, the gigantic eye of iniquity appeared in her mind as well as the Invincible. 

        Garnet fainted. Those memories were too much for her to abide. Zidane ran over to her and called her name until she awoke. Opening her eyes, she saw him and swiftly stood up, but lost her balance and fell into Zidane's strong arms. He smiled and just held her, caressing her hair as he tried to succor her.

        "You really are Zidane," she accepted, glancing at his tail. That made her remember the summoner horn she once had and sighed.

        "And you really are Sarah." He hugged her tightly. "I never forgot about you. Every day I wished I could find you. I never let the despair get to me. If it tried, I'd just stare at the pendant you gave me and remember your sweet voice. And just so you know, it still is sweet-sounding." 

        Garnet managed to laugh a bit at Zidane's flirtatious comment. "And you're still charming and kind, just like when I met you."

        "Sarah…"

"It's as if there's a Deity of Fate and she's smiling down upon us; she did her job—another long lost friendship has been reunited at last." Garnet sighed in contentment.

        "Yeah… It's as if I was fated to meet you again in my life." Zidane smirked. "I knew I had some damn incentive to keep on living my life…and you're it."

        "…And it's as if I was destined to meet you again in my life." Garnet smiled. She did not smile for a very long time, but now she finally did just that.

        "Fated love," the two confessed in the end, together. 

        __


End file.
